Broken Life
by colorful swirls
Summary: She is just a woman. - Andromeda/Ted.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

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_Their story is like all the other tragedies. Except more painful._

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**i.** andy

Andromeda Black is an intelligent person. She knows from day one that her family is evil. She knows from day one that it would wiser not to cross them - and so she vows that day that she never will.

Of course, she breaks her vow to herself. But by that time, she hardly remembers the naive little girl she once was, much less some silly promise she might've made.

She's a Slytherin, of course. Sirius was always the one to shine; he will be the one remembered, and she'll be the one felt sorry for.

(Because she's not actually evil.)

She has curly brown hair that flows from her scalp, not unmanageable at all, soft like down and light like dark. Her eyes are a soft shade of brown, too, lining the border of black.

Chocolate is her guiltiest pleasure, and yellow is her favorite color.

She is not a flash, nor a bang, nor a crack. She is a girl.

Just a girl.

**ii.** ted

Ted Tonks is a ball of energy and kindness.

He's mellow; he's yellow (her favorite color). His blonde hair and brown eyes might've made him popular at Hogwarts - but they didn't, because he's a Muggle-born.

Yes, he grows up playing soccer and going to primary school, having fun and planning his future career as a firefighter.

Then, he comes home from a soccer game, exhausted and sweating and dirty, and there in front of his fireplace is an old man sporting deep green robes and holding a stick.

This marks the beginning of him being a wizard. Actually, it marks the beginning of him knowing he's a wizard (he's been one since birth).

Ted has always been a fairly popular kid, and him being a Muggle-born isn't going to stop him from being the same at a magical school, not at all. Ted's perseverance wins, and he does end up with quite a few friends, though the Slytherin's blanch at his very presence.

But he's okay with that. They have their beliefs, he has his.

Then, in his fifth year, he meets Andromeda Black and his whole world spirals.

**iii.** sight

He's assigned to be her Muggle Studies tutor - which, of course, turns into snogging sessions over the worn textbook.

She is just _ohso_beautiful and _ohso_amazing.

He is all she wants to be; pure, kind, and _not_ a Black. She thinks that she'd rather like to be a _Tonks_.

She'd rather like it a lot.

So, one day - a sunny March fourth - they're sitting by Black Lake and he's trying to explain toasters to her whenever she turns around and looks him in the eyes.

(Brown eyes.)

"Ted," she says softly (demandingly) and he looks at her. And then she kisses him, her fingers in his hair and his around her waist.

They sit there for awhile, and after, he begins to teach her about Muggle fairytales.

**iv.** love

They keep together, even after her family finds out, even after she's disowned, even after his father is murdered.

Their only major argument is in their seventh year, right before graduation. She is convinced that she doesn't deserve him.

"I'm a Black," she says. "You - you could do so much better."

"No, Dromeda," he tells her, and she smiles sadly at her nickname. "What's better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" He looks at her, with those brown eyes adoring.

"To be born good," she mutters, looking at the ground, and he lifts her chin up with a finger, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"No," he says, "you silly girl. Sometimes I wonder how you're Slytherin." Then he kisses her.

They graduate, and Bellatrix sneers at her, and Narcissa smirks, and Andromeda ignores them all, her eyes on Ted Tonks.

He proposes at a park, her swinging gracefully and a little girl in a sandbox looking on and wishing for a happy ending like that tall woman and that blonde man are getting.

She wears a white dress and he wears a black suit and he counts her freckles as the Minister drones on and on and on, until finally they're united.

It's like that story her uncle Alphas used to tell her, when she was small and in need of a love story to keep her hopes up: the princess called Andromeda, that was locked in the tallest tower by her boastful family, and rescued by the handsome Prince, whom she married.

She was locked in the tallest tower - the Black tower, the highest and most despicable castle.

She was rescued by a handsome prince - and he is more than handsome, and he is better for her than any prince from any fairytale.

**v.** break

A daughter. A beautiful baby girl (Nymphadora).

A home. A small, stone home (for always).

They have so much in their kingdom - love and hope and strength. The war is raging, but she remains shut in her own world full of Dora and Remus and Ted.

And then, he leaves. It's okay, though - he's alive (she knows he is) and he'll be back.

And then, he is gone. And it is not okay. It is not alright.

And then, Nymphadora dies. Remus dies. Ted is dead.

Teddy - poor little guy - is all she has left.

And she is not strong, nor tough, nor unbreakable. She is a woman.

Just a woman (with a broken life).

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_It is the darkest times when we have to focus to see the light._

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**Written For:**

**- Task 1 on Empress Empoleon's Triwizard Tournament Competition on**  
**HPFC.**  
**- Blue (negative) on Empress Empoleon's Colors Competition on HPFC.**  
**- Pairing Diversity Bootcamp, Prompt #14 (Love hurts).**  
**- The If You Dare Challenge, Prompt #355 (Too much has been lost).**  
**- Hogwarts Online's Daily Prompt: "What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" - Paarthurnax, Skyrim.**


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